Run With Garrison

Aloha everyone!
Wow, it has been quite a while since I posted anything on the blog. My apologies. After a tough run at the Tahoe Rim Trail 33M in July, I took a little bit of time to regroup and recover. I also set up my training plan for the back half of 2014. I also received a very good bit of news that really helped inspire my training for the next 6 months……I have been accepted into the 2015 HURT 100 mile race in January. Last year, I put up a DNF at my first HURT 100 and I am determined to run well and finish this time around.

After taking some time to look at my training logs for the first half of the year and I noticed that my hip only really hurts after I try to run a fast workout. With that information in mind, I decided to lay off the workouts and just simply put in a healthy chunk of miles as preparation my upcoming races. I am spending as much time as I can in the hills/mountains of Oahu, using the hill training as a substitute for speedwork.

I have set up 3 week cycles with mileages ranging from 70-100 miles a week. I am also trying to take 1 day off a week when possible. Massages with Barbara @ Massage Specialists are also now scheduled every 3 weeks. Mileage of the week 1 of the cycle is 70-75 miles. Week 2 is 80-85 miles while week 3 is 90+ miles for the week. So far, I have been able to stick to the plan and I feel great. I am dropping weight and feeling much stronger. Most importantly, I am running very, very happy!

Here are the totals for the last 4 weeks..
August 11-17 70 miles with 6390 feet climbing and 1 day off
August 18-24 80.2 miles with 7663 feet of climbing and 1 day off
August 25-31 93.2 miles with 13,076 feet of climbing and 1 day off. I also ran the Tantalus Triple trek at the end of this week…more on that in a minute.
September 1-7 71.7 miles with 11,436 feet of climbing and 1 day off

I will keep up this cycle thru the Javelina Jundred on November 1. My goal for that race is to break 20 hours for 100 miles. Quite a lofty goal, but I am going to work my tail off to get there! Along the way, I will run the Noble Canyon 50k in San Diego on September 20 and the Peacock 50k here on Oahu October 11 as tune-up races. My expectation for those races will be to run hard and solidify my eating and hydration plan for both the Jundred and the HURT 100. Of course, I am drinking Skratch Labs juice on my runs and it works perfectly for me. I have also been eating real food on my long runs. We are cooking up all sorts of fun and tasty recipes from The Feed Zone Portables cookbook. Please visit http://www.SkratchLabs.com and check these out!

Now a few quick words about the Tantalus Triple Trek….
I went into the race a bit tired but very excited. My plan was to try to run as even as possible and maintain a happy outlook the entire way. On race morning, I warmed up for the race by running 3.5 miles to the start from home. I was feeling good and I knew a fun day was on the horizon. I met up with one of my training buddies, Joe, at the start area and he was clearly jazzed and ready to run fast. He set a goal of breaking 5 hours and it was a very realistic goal–also one that would eventually lead him to victory!
I ran 6:38 last year off of a month of running and with my hip still not feeling great. I had no specific time in mind, but I thought sub 5:45 would be a solid effort for me. We all strapped on our headlamps, gathered at the start line, and hit the trails at 0530. Joe immediately took off and amazingly I found myself in second place for the first lap. I also spent most of the first of 3 laps showing out-of-town beast Lauren the way around the tantalus trails. At the completion of the first lap, I filled bottles and we headed out on the 2nd lap where Lauren dropped me immediately on the first climb up center trail. This was no big surprise since I felt that she was just chilling behind me. She is a very good runner and I spent zero time thinking about chasing her down. I remained totally focused on running a happy and solid effort. Up the trails, Joe was pounding out an amazing run!
I rolled into the main aid station after lap 2, filled the bottles with Skratch, ate a french toast cake, and headed out for my final lap. I left Lauren in the aid station. She arrived before me and I think she took a little extra time to fill up a camelback bladder. I figured that she would easily catch me along the 5 miles of climbing to start the lap. I set up small mental checkpoints to keep myself focused and tough and the goals worked. I achieved all my goals.. I finished 2nd overall to Joe with a time of 5:33. Although I did not see/hear Lauren behind me most of the 3rd lap, she seriously closed the gap and finished less than a minute behind me. I am very happy with my effort and I ran HAPPY the entire way.

I am truly looking forward to the next few months and I will keep you all updated along the way.

Much Aloha,

Michael